In a move designed to eliminate a constant drain on the public purse, the Canadian government has sold the commercial reactor division of Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. to Montreal-based SNC-Lavalin for $15 million, plus royalties from the sale of new reactors and extension projects on existing ones. The government retains ownership of the CANDU reactor technology developed by the division, and the the medical isotope business.
Under the agreement, which closes in October, SNC-Lavalin subsidiary CANDU Energy will take over the division's three business lines, which include servicing and rehabilitating existing reactors and building new ones. It commits the company to completing ongoing refurbishments. Negotiations for the sale started last year.